Local News

The farm truck overturned on its side, emptying a water tank and spilling 200 gallons of farm chemicals.

Farm Truck Turns On Side Dumping 200 Gallons of Farm Chemicals

By Bruce Kropp, WJBD News

The driver of a farm service truck lost control when meeting another vehicle in the 1400 block of South College Street Friday afternoon, causing the truck to overturn and dump a large tote of concentrated farm chemicals upside down onto the roadway.

Salem Police say 33-year-old Justin Meekens of Nichols, South Carolina was taken to Salem Township Hospital for treatment. He had been staying in the area and was working for the owner of the truck, Loepker Farms of Bartelso. The resulting clean-up took six hours to complete.

Salem Fire Chief Roger Mann about 200 gallons of the chemical spilled out of the containers onto the road and roadside ditch. Mann says the chemical posed no health concerns, but South College Street was closed and the fire department stood by until a St. Louis firm called in could complete the clean-up. A power pole was also struck by the truck and damaged.

Police reports indicate Meekens was traveling southbound on South College when he met the oncoming car and partially ran off the road. He was able to get the truck back on the road, but the shifting weight in a large water tank on the back of the truck caused Meekens to loose control again and run back off the road. The flatbed truck then flipped over on its side across both lanes.

Mann says the large water tank broke and spilled water all over the roadway. He reports the truck was used to take the concentrated chemicals from farm field to farm field, where the chemical was mixed with water for application.

Police say tickets are pending in the crash that was first reported around 3:30 Friday afternoon. The wreck was one of six Salem Police handled in just over a four hour period beginning at just before noon on Friday. None of the others involved injuries.